


side by side

by journalofimprobablethings



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Reunions, and eurydice would be there, my question has always been: did she forgive him?, orpheus had to come back to the underworld eventually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28624899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/journalofimprobablethings/pseuds/journalofimprobablethings
Summary: On the road to hell there is a railroad track, and at the end of it is a station where there was once a high, cinder-brick wall. A young woman stands at the station, watching the tracks. Waiting.Orpheus returns to Hadestown. This time, he comes on the train, and Eurydice is there to meet him.
Relationships: Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	side by side

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to the Broadway album on repeat last winter and I was always curious about what happened after That Moment, and what might have happened when Orpheus eventually, inevitably, returned to Hadestown. So this is one version of that scene.

_On the road to hell there is a railroad track, and at the end of it is a station where there was once a high, cinder-brick wall. A young woman stands at the station, watching the tracks. Waiting._

_As she watches, a train pulls in to the station, and a man steps out. He is young, but he moves as though he is no longer used to being young. He steps off the train and looks up and sees the young woman, and he freezes._

It’s you, _he says._

_The young woman takes a step forward when she sees him, then stops._

It’s me _, she says._ Orpheus—

Eurydice.

_He still says her name as though it is the most beautiful melody in the world._

_Orpheus and Eurydice stand and look at each other, just as they did the last time he was here. They do not touch._

You came on the train this time.

Yes.

_When he turned around, that day—so close to the top, so close to salvation—he had turned and seen her and known that he would never see her again, now._

_But here she is, standing in front of him._

I didn’t think I would ever see you again.

You knew I would be here.

Yes. But—

_But_

_I did not think you’d come to meet me, he thinks._

It’s good to see you, _he says._

_She knew he would return here, in the end_. _Everyone always does. She does not know how long it has been._

_Eternity._

_No time at all._

_She does not know if she is happy to see him._

It’s good to see you _, he says_ , _and she wants to say_ you, too, _but instead, she asks,_

Why did you do it?

_He does not answer. They stand looking at each other._

Why did you turn around?

_It’s a question he has asked himself countless times, and endless litany in his head, the undercurrent flowing through every song he sang as he wandered up in the world. He has asked himself and every person who listened to his music this question. But he does not have an answer for her. Not one that will serve._

I missed you, _he says instead._

That’s not an answer.

I know.

_An eternity passes in the space between their words. They stand on the platform, neither knowing quite what to say._

I heard your songs, _she says finally_. The ones you wrote up there.

You did?

_She nods._

Folk brought them back with them, when they came on the train.

What did you think?

_His expression is so hopeful, so open. He hasn’t lost that earnestness, even after all his years of wandering._

They were beautiful, _she says._ But they made me sad.

I wrote some happy ones, too. I didn’t play them much.

_She remembers how much she’d loved his music, how it made her see the world through his hopeful, earnest eyes._

Will you play them here? _she asks._

_And he smiles, a real smile, maybe his first real smile in years._

If you want me to.

_She nods her head towards the exit._

Well, then. Let’s go.

_On the road to hell there is a railroad track, and a young man and a young woman facing each other on a station platform. The last time they left this place, she followed behind him, with hope in her heart. This time, they leave together, and the hope they each hold is more cautious. But it’s there._

_Orpheus and Eurydice walk out of the station together, side by side._

_Hand in hand may come again, someday. In time._

**Author's Note:**

> We love experimental formatting! I'm not entirely sure how well this works; let me know what you think.  
> Thanks for reading!


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